6 things you should always keep at your desk

Certain desk items like a planner and a good office chair can enhance your productivity.

source

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

Your desk is your space at work where you complete all of your job-related tasks.

You should organize your desk in a way that enhances productivity, rather than clutter it with items that hinder it or distract you.

Here are six things, like a good office chair and desk planner, you should always keep at your desk.

When I became a full-time freelancer and transitioned to working remotely about eight years ago, I was terrible with organization.

My “desk” was the couch, and my organization strategy was scribbling notes on Post-Its and randomly sticking them to my laptop, only for them to get lost. A few years of this system resulted in lost emails and forgotten deadlines, and I realized that it was time to buy a proper desk and get organized.

While I do occasionally work in coffee shops or from my bed, most of my working hours are spent sitting upright at my desk. Everything I need to stay organized is at my fingertips, so I’m able to complete my tasks more efficiently.

Whether your working at home or in an office, here are six things you should always keep at your desk to be organized and enhance productivity:

2. A desk planner

caption

Written to-do lists are great reminders of the tasks you have to complete.

source

Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock

While I often use Google Calendar to note important dates and there are no shortage of online planners, it also can be helpful to have deadlines, appointments, calls, and other reminders written on paper as well.

Keeping a written to-do list near your desk can help you stay on-task, remind you of what’s coming up, and help eliminate the possibility of a scheduling error.

Going paperless is great for the environment, but when you need to print out a form to send to an employer or you prefer editing with a paper and pen, a wireless printer comes in handy.

A wireless printer also means one fewer cord to get in the way. Plus there are some inexpensive, high-quality options out there.

4. A filing cabinet or folder

caption

Keep everything organized in one place with a filing cabinet.

source

Nirat.pix/Shutterstock

There may be times when you’ll have important documents like receipts or payslips that you’ll need to hold onto for the future.

To avoid losing these documents, pick up a filing cabinet or accordion folder to keep important paperwork organized. A folder in one of my desk drawers safely holds all of my paper documents in one place, and I always know where something is when I need it.

External hard drives these days are relatively inexpensive for large amounts of storage space, like this external drive that gives you 2 TB of space for about $60.

You can also opt for a cloud storage service like Google Drive, DropBox, or iCloud, but I’d still recommend a physical external HD just in case you were to ever lose access to your online accounts or should you need to access your work when there’s no available internet connection.

6. A phone charging cable

caption

You don’t want to be caught with a dead phone during work hours.

source

Saranya Loisamutr/Shutterstock

Even if you work in an office where using your phone during business hours is frowned upon, the truth is that things come up and an emergency may arise where you may need to reach someone quickly.

You don’t want to get caught with no power in the middle of your workday in case the need arises, so it pays to keep either a USB or wall charger at desk at all times.